FBI raid sought robber info

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s November raid on a North Bend residence was part of the investigation of accused bank robber Warren M. Richardson.

Neighbors noticed police and FBI agents converge on an upstairs apartment at the 100 block of North Bend Way about 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24. Employees in adjacent buildings heard shouting and loud crashes from inside the apartment as the search was conducted. Witnesses said officers left with at least one evidence bag, but did not see anyone taken into custody.

While the FBI did not reveal information about the raid at the time, Special Agent Fred Gutt told the Valley Record last week that it was part of its efforts to find the man behind the Seattle and North Bend bank robberies that month.

FBI officials, backed up by King County Sheriff’s Deputies, used a search warrant to enter the residence. Gutt did not know whether the place was the home of Richardson, who faces two counts of first-degree bank robbery in connection with a Nov. 6 heist at North Bend’s Sterling Savings and a Nov. 9 robbery of Frontier Bank in Ballard.

The second-floor apartment may have been a place frequented by Richardson, according to Gutt.

Richardson pled innocent at a Tuesday, Dec. 1, arraignment. He is currently in custody at King County Jail.

The robber made off with less than $400 from the North Bend robbery, and stole about $2,000 from the Ballard bank — along with an exploding dye pack that went off as he left the building.

Police traced Richardson through newspaper photos, and found him at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, being treated for an unrelated medical issue.

Contact Snoqualmie Valley Record Editor Seth Truscott at editor@valleyrecord.com or 1-425-888-2311.

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